What if Google Maps stopped recommending the fastest route?

Traffic congestion causes a multitude of problems in cities: carbon emissions, public health problems, stress on drivers, and slower emergency services. Congestion also wastes time and fuel, costing the US more than $115 billion annually. Cities like NYC and London have recently turned towards ‘congestion pricing’ — a solution that charges a toll on vehicles entering the city core via cashless tolling technology. But, although this solution reduces vehicle travel and raises revenue, congestion pricing does not provide granular control of traffic.

Real-time road pricing provides cities block-by-block control of traffic. By pricing specific roads in real time, cities can incentivize travel along preferred routes. Integrating with navigation apps like Google Maps or Waze allows for route optimization beyond just travel time. If smog is severe in one neighborhood (via air quality sensors) or traffic must be cleared for emergency vehicles, prices can be raised to migrate traffic. Furthermore, the eventual advent of self-driving cars would create a highly logical and predictable ‘customer’ to respond to price signals. Although congestion pricing is a step in the right direction to alleviate congestion, real-time road pricing is the ultimate solution for cities to alleviate congestion’s numerous externalities.

https://www.sidewalklabs.com/blog/a-vision-of-city-transportation-circa-2043/